General Information:
In the far future, perhaps 50 million years later, a new species of Kookaburra will arise. They are much more versatile and resilient than the modern days Kookaburra. They, however, will still be famous for their laughing calls. Their Latin name, Novaemundus, literally means New World. In the future, the name acknowledge the fact that laughing (especially to humans) is very important to create peace on earth. This new species of Kookaburra will set a great example and symbolizes peace and laugther.
Their general size will increase to about 52 cm and will weight about 0.5 kg. Their average life span is now 25~30 years old, their color theme will remain pretty much the same, except for some blue feathers on their wing. Their bills be around 13 cm, 23% of their length, which means it would stop evolving. That is because if the bill continued to evolve, it'll simply be too big.
Scientific Classification:
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Coraciiformes
Family
Halcyonidae
Genus
Dacelo
Species
D. novaemundus
Habitat & Distribution: The world in 50 million years time will be very different to modern world. Africa and Asia have fused together and the South & North American are now very close, along with Australia, these three continents have moved towards North. The average temperature in this world will probably be higher (1~2 degrees), as the sun is now in a different phrase of it's life and are emitting more heat. This effect however, is canceled, as most continents moved upwards, which means it'll be cooler.
Similar to the Power Rabbit , the New World Kookaburra will virtually live everywhere, except for Antarctica, desserts and volcanic areas. They have become less territorial and are now willing to share and live within a social group, usually consisting a dozen family groups, which travels and (sometimes) hunt together as a pact. They are also much more human-friendly and intelligent than before, which means they are able to use tools and remember the details of an area.
Map 1 - Distribution of the New World Kookaburra Source
Labelled by Kelvin Ko
The New World Kookaburra favors subtropical forests, as they are warm, wet and sunny. Also, ever since they became speedy and agile flyers, they now adopts an "hide-wait-ambush" style of hunting which is effective in these dense forests. However, they are also as capable living in other areas such as cold, rocky shores of Europe (they have an effective fat layer) to hot, tropical forests (they have an effective water-absorbing intestine).
Figure 1 - One of the New World Kookaburra's favourite habitat, dense woodlands Source
They will still continue to build nest and defend their young, but as they became omnivores, they can easily find food and doesn't need to leave their young for a long time, so they'll be safer. The New World Kookaburra is now a common sight, much like the modern days birds. Their population are five times the population of Kookaburras in the modern world. The major diet of the New World Kookaburra includes the Future Earthworm, smaller birds like Future Australian Magpie to seeds, plants, fruits and leafs.
Diagram 1 - Future Conception of the New World Kookaburra
Drawn and Labelled by Kelvin Ko
Physical 1 - Enhanced Overall Body Build:
In 50 million years time, the Kookaburra have truly evolved into an all-rounded, versatile bird that is capable of living and hunting in most areas. The foremost reason for this is due to their upgraded general features. For instance, their wings are a bit bigger now, and are much more rounded and pointed, giving them hasty and nimble with immense maneuverability without losing much of their endurance. This boost in speed and flexibility is further magnified as the Kookaburra becomes less chubby (as they now can effectively store more fat) and lighter, fewer feathers. The will also maintain their large bills, but their legs will also become muscular and powerful along with sharp, eagle-like talons. During this 50 million years, surviving is no simple matter, as the earth is getting crowder, animals have to engage in numerous competition in order to gain resources like food and territory. For Kookaburra, being more speedy and flexible means they could quickly ambush their preys in dense areas, using it's strong bills or legs to grab and break their bones (much like the modern day Kookaburra), with it's fewer feather and more effective fat storage, they can live in a bigger range of places, so the chance of starvation due to the lack of resource is lessen. Nevertheless, it's upgraded general features are considered essential and necessary in order to keep living on earth.
Behavioral 1 - More social Interactions:
In the future, the Kookaburras are not longer aggressive to other family groups and are not entirely territorial anymore. Instead, they live in bigger social groups complied of about a dozen family groups. They would help each other out and defend their young, they will also hunt together and feed as a group. Their social group 2~3 alpha-pairs, which are selective by their groups according to their adaption. These alpha pairs will have the priority to mate and pass on their genes, with the entire group protecting and feeding their young. Also, their laughing calls are no longer a threat or a territory marker, but rather a peaceful call used to symbolize and strengthen their in-group friendship. With the peaceful status of living together, New World Kookaburra prevented a lot of fight, which might reduce the population by increasing the in-species-conflict death rate. It is possible that Kookaburras who don't fight another Kookaburras have a better chance of survival, (the Kookaburras that fight, dies) and have a better chance to pass on their genes. And after 50 million years, the species will mostly be made up of in-species-peaceful Kookaburras. According to this adaptation, the New World Kookaburra will continue to evolve exponentially.
Behavioral 2 - Rapidly Developing Intelligence:
As different animals evolves in this world, physical advantages are no longer enough for survival. In order to achieve success, species must develop tactics and uses their intelligence. In this place of time, the New World Kookaburra's intelligence will be still developing. However, compare to modern days Kookaburra, the New World Kookaburras are extremely smart and tactical. For instance, Kookaburras have started to use tools, like using rocks to sneakingly break other animals egg and eat the yolk or developing embryo inside or using their bills along with sticks to extract insects like ants from trees. They also possess a self-conscious level similar to modern days elephants, their memory will be enhanced, allowing them to remember the details of the areas. They will also learn easier with higher problem solving skills. All of these, not only helps the animal to hunt, but also to navigate through lands, build shelter and improve their overall survival rate. The environmental pressure of this adaptation, as mentioned, is the basic need to survival. And when animals are developing in such an extraordinary level, the species have to do anything in order to survive, in this case, developing higher intelligence.
Video 1 - Tool use
The New World Kookaburra's tool use ability will be at least on par with the Crow's. Source
Physical 2 - Enhanced Senses:
Modern days Kookaburra are known to have a good eyesight and above-average hearing, in terms of birds. But in comparison to the superhuman senses (eyesight and hearing) of New World Kookaburra, it is close to nothing. After-all, the New World Kookaburra have spent 50 million years to develop and perfect the mentioned senses. To start off, the weaker and lesser developed of the two senses, is hearing. However, it can not be underrated. New World Kookaburras have asymmetrical ears, one of which slightly higher than the other. This means sounds travelling from different places will reach the ears in slightly different time, this will give the New World Kookaburra a binocular, stereo-hearing. In very dense forest, this is very useful to determine the exact location of the prey, so that the Kookaburra can take action instantly and sneak-catch it. The stronger of the two senses, sight, is now developed to a stage where is it superior to the modern days eagle. Their sight is 10 times better than human, they can see a larger part of the electrical spectrum. They also can see and turn their focus on animals that are at least miles away. Their visual motion and nocturnal vision is also on it's way to perfection. And the combined strength of sight would give them the ability to spot preys and predators from a long distance, and give them the ability to plan ahead accordingly. The environmental pressure that has given rise to this adaptation is most certainly the competitiveness in their hunting ground. Kookaburras started off with good eyesight, so it is relatively easy for take this to another level and use it against it's enemies. However, as hearing is concerned, it is most likely when the moved into dense forest, that they can no longer only rely on their sight, forcing their hearing to also evolve.
Figure 3 - Eyes of the New World Kookaburra Source
Psysiological - Digestive System Boost:
In the future, one of the most noticeable change the New World Kookaburra has, is becoming an omnivore. Their digestive system that has developed for 50 million years will let them do so. Firstly, when eating meat, the stomach now produces even stronger gastric juice to digest animals, making it much more effective. This, along with strong poison-breaking chemicals will make the Kookaburra nearly immuned to eaten poison, much like rats. They have a bigger crop, which efficently allow them to store food, which means they can survive without food for much longer. Because they their saliva will have more amylase and will make food slippy, they are less likely to choke. Also, they have bigger gizzards to grind up hard, dry foods like nuts and seeds. Their intestine will have friendly bacterias that can break down plants, which is the reason why they can eat vegeatbles now. The pancreas are also much better at producing acid-neutrualizing chemicals. Environmental pressure that could've made this adaptation possible includes the need to change their diet, as hunting, as mentioned, becomes much harder. They now have to eat whatever they can, which means a change in the digetsive system. They might face phrases of salvation and other hardship which leads to this adaptation.
Figure 4 - Simulated Digestive System of a New World Kookaburra
<- Modern Animal: Laughing Kookaburra
<-<- Fossil Animal: Pteranodon Sternbergi
General Information:
In the far future, perhaps 50 million years later, a new species of Kookaburra will arise. They are much more versatile and resilient than the modern days Kookaburra. They, however, will still be famous for their laughing calls. Their Latin name, Novaemundus, literally means New World. In the future, the name acknowledge the fact that laughing (especially to humans) is very important to create peace on earth. This new species of Kookaburra will set a great example and symbolizes peace and laugther.
Their general size will increase to about 52 cm and will weight about 0.5 kg. Their average life span is now 25~30 years old, their color theme will remain pretty much the same, except for some blue feathers on their wing. Their bills be around 13 cm, 23% of their length, which means it would stop evolving. That is because if the bill continued to evolve, it'll simply be too big.
Scientific Classification:
Habitat & Distribution:
The world in 50 million years time will be very different to modern world. Africa and Asia have fused together and the South & North American are now very close, along with Australia, these three continents have moved towards North. The average temperature in this world will probably be higher (1~2 degrees), as the sun is now in a different phrase of it's life and are emitting more heat. This effect however, is canceled, as most continents moved upwards, which means it'll be cooler.
Similar to the Power Rabbit , the New World Kookaburra will virtually live everywhere, except for Antarctica, desserts and volcanic areas. They have become less territorial and are now willing to share and live within a social group, usually consisting a dozen family groups, which travels and (sometimes) hunt together as a pact. They are also much more human-friendly and intelligent than before, which means they are able to use tools and remember the details of an area.
Source
Labelled by Kelvin Ko
The New World Kookaburra favors subtropical forests, as they are warm, wet and sunny. Also, ever since they became speedy and agile flyers, they now adopts an "hide-wait-ambush" style of hunting which is effective in these dense forests. However, they are also as capable living in other areas such as cold, rocky shores of Europe (they have an effective fat layer) to hot, tropical forests (they have an effective water-absorbing intestine).
Source
They will still continue to build nest and defend their young, but as they became omnivores, they can easily find food and doesn't need to leave their young for a long time, so they'll be safer. The New World Kookaburra is now a common sight, much like the modern days birds. Their population are five times the population of Kookaburras in the modern world. The major diet of the New World Kookaburra includes the Future Earthworm, smaller birds like Future Australian Magpie to seeds, plants, fruits and leafs.
Drawn and Labelled by Kelvin Ko
Physical 1 - Enhanced Overall Body Build:
In 50 million years time, the Kookaburra have truly evolved into an all-rounded, versatile bird that is capable of living and hunting in most areas. The foremost reason for this is due to their upgraded general features. For instance, their wings are a bit bigger now, and are much more rounded and pointed, giving them hasty and nimble with immense maneuverability without losing much of their endurance. This boost in speed and flexibility is further magnified as the Kookaburra becomes less chubby (as they now can effectively store more fat) and lighter, fewer feathers. The will also maintain their large bills, but their legs will also become muscular and powerful along with sharp, eagle-like talons. During this 50 million years, surviving is no simple matter, as the earth is getting crowder, animals have to engage in numerous competition in order to gain resources like food and territory. For Kookaburra, being more speedy and flexible means they could quickly ambush their preys in dense areas, using it's strong bills or legs to grab and break their bones (much like the modern day Kookaburra), with it's fewer feather and more effective fat storage, they can live in a bigger range of places, so the chance of starvation due to the lack of resource is lessen. Nevertheless, it's upgraded general features are considered essential and necessary in order to keep living on earth.
Source
Behavioral 1 - More social Interactions:
In the future, the Kookaburras are not longer aggressive to other family groups and are not entirely territorial anymore. Instead, they live in bigger social groups complied of about a dozen family groups. They would help each other out and defend their young, they will also hunt together and feed as a group. Their social group 2~3 alpha-pairs, which are selective by their groups according to their adaption. These alpha pairs will have the priority to mate and pass on their genes, with the entire group protecting and feeding their young. Also, their laughing calls are no longer a threat or a territory marker, but rather a peaceful call used to symbolize and strengthen their in-group friendship. With the peaceful status of living together, New World Kookaburra prevented a lot of fight, which might reduce the population by increasing the in-species-conflict death rate. It is possible that Kookaburras who don't fight another Kookaburras have a better chance of survival, (the Kookaburras that fight, dies) and have a better chance to pass on their genes. And after 50 million years, the species will mostly be made up of in-species-peaceful Kookaburras. According to this adaptation, the New World Kookaburra will continue to evolve exponentially.
Behavioral 2 - Rapidly Developing Intelligence:
As different animals evolves in this world, physical advantages are no longer enough for survival. In order to achieve success, species must develop tactics and uses their intelligence. In this place of time, the New World Kookaburra's intelligence will be still developing. However, compare to modern days Kookaburra, the New World Kookaburras are extremely smart and tactical. For instance, Kookaburras have started to use tools, like using rocks to sneakingly break other animals egg and eat the yolk or developing embryo inside or using their bills along with sticks to extract insects like ants from trees. They also possess a self-conscious level similar to modern days elephants, their memory will be enhanced, allowing them to remember the details of the areas. They will also learn easier with higher problem solving skills. All of these, not only helps the animal to hunt, but also to navigate through lands, build shelter and improve their overall survival rate. The environmental pressure of this adaptation, as mentioned, is the basic need to survival. And when animals are developing in such an extraordinary level, the species have to do anything in order to survive, in this case, developing higher intelligence.
The New World Kookaburra's tool use ability will be at least on par with the Crow's.
Source
Physical 2 - Enhanced Senses:
Modern days Kookaburra are known to have a good eyesight and above-average hearing, in terms of birds. But in comparison to the superhuman senses (eyesight and hearing) of New World Kookaburra, it is close to nothing. After-all, the New World Kookaburra have spent 50 million years to develop and perfect the mentioned senses. To start off, the weaker and lesser developed of the two senses, is hearing. However, it can not be underrated. New World Kookaburras have asymmetrical ears, one of which slightly higher than the other. This means sounds travelling from different places will reach the ears in slightly different time, this will give the New World Kookaburra a binocular, stereo-hearing. In very dense forest, this is very useful to determine the exact location of the prey, so that the Kookaburra can take action instantly and sneak-catch it. The stronger of the two senses, sight, is now developed to a stage where is it superior to the modern days eagle. Their sight is 10 times better than human, they can see a larger part of the electrical spectrum. They also can see and turn their focus on animals that are at least miles away. Their visual motion and nocturnal vision is also on it's way to perfection. And the combined strength of sight would give them the ability to spot preys and predators from a long distance, and give them the ability to plan ahead accordingly. The environmental pressure that has given rise to this adaptation is most certainly the competitiveness in their hunting ground. Kookaburras started off with good eyesight, so it is relatively easy for take this to another level and use it against it's enemies. However, as hearing is concerned, it is most likely when the moved into dense forest, that they can no longer only rely on their sight, forcing their hearing to also evolve.
Source
Psysiological - Digestive System Boost:
In the future, one of the most noticeable change the New World Kookaburra has, is becoming an omnivore. Their digestive system that has developed for 50 million years will let them do so. Firstly, when eating meat, the stomach now produces even stronger gastric juice to digest animals, making it much more effective. This, along with strong poison-breaking chemicals will make the Kookaburra nearly immuned to eaten poison, much like rats. They have a bigger crop, which efficently allow them to store food, which means they can survive without food for much longer. Because they their saliva will have more amylase and will make food slippy, they are less likely to choke. Also, they have bigger gizzards to grind up hard, dry foods like nuts and seeds. Their intestine will have friendly bacterias that can break down plants, which is the reason why they can eat vegeatbles now. The pancreas are also much better at producing acid-neutrualizing chemicals. Environmental pressure that could've made this adaptation possible includes the need to change their diet, as hunting, as mentioned, becomes much harder. They now have to eat whatever they can, which means a change in the digetsive system. They might face phrases of salvation and other hardship which leads to this adaptation.
Sources
Bibliography:
Gareth, H.D. (2009). Champion Birds. Retreieved July 14th, 2010. From http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/champions/index.html
Shirlie, S. (2007). Omnivore, Herbivore, Carnivore, What's the Difference? Retreieved July 21st, 2010. From http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/feedingfis1/f/omnivore.htm
Wikipedia. (2010). Tool use by animals. Retrieved July 18th, 2010. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_use_by_animals
Backyard Birds. (2010). Bird Digestion. Retreieved July 28th, 2010. From http://www.backyardnature.net/birdguts.htm
Gordon, R. (2008). Hearing and the Bird's Ear. Retreieved July 25th, 2010. From http://www.earthlife.net/birds/hearing.html
Reference:
Map 1: http://www.futuretimeline.net/images/pangaea_future_earth_map_50m.jpg
Figure 1: http://www.eriding.net/media/photos/literacy/settings/040930_cbrown_mp_lit_setting_002.jpg
Figure 2: http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/eagle_cam_blog/eagle_foot.gif
Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwVhrrDvwPM&feature=PlayList&p=E867B3C64835E460&playnext=1&index=8
Figure 3: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Hawk_eye.jpg
Figure 4: http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/birddigestion.html